


When We Were Eighteen

by lgbtqhowell



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Fanfiction, KickTheSticks - Freeform, M/M, Phan - Freeform, Phanfiction, Soulmate AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-11-09 15:37:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 9,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11107587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lgbtqhowell/pseuds/lgbtqhowell
Summary: Dan has wanted to meet his soulmate for years, but little does he know that he just found him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> henlo  
> this is my first fanfic on this site, so bare with me, i'm still trying to figure it out  
> anyways, i hope you enjoy!

**October 19, 2006**

It was a normal day for Dan Howell.  
It was 2006, and he was going over to his friend's house, as usual. His friend's name was Chris, and he hung out with him every day afterschool.  
They had just gotten in to 9th grade, so they were both 15 at this time. It was 3 years until they were 18, and that was a very important age for everyone.  
Once you turned 18, unless you had already found your soulmate, you stopped aging until you found them.  
Dan had wanted to find his soulmate for the longest time, but he had no way to tell who it was for the next 3 years. He had decided when he first found out about soulmates that he would wait until he was 18 to date people, because it would be pointless to date someone if you didn't know if they were your soulmate or not.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soz it's kinda boring, but it's the beginning, gotta introduce everyone

He walked beside Chris, toward his house. They made small talk, but nothing really important. That was until Chris brought up a topic that Dan was obsessed with.  
Soulmates.   
Soulmates were Dan's favorite thing to talk about. He had looked up countless things about soulmates and talked to many, many people who had soulmates to find out what it was like. He was unbelievably excited to find his soulmate, and everyone around him knew that. If you even said the word "soul", Dan would start spewing out facts before you could even finish your sentence.   
So, as soon as Chris started to talk about his potential soulmate, Dan got excited was about to start the usual routine until he realized what Chris had said.  
"Wait a second, did you just say you may have found your soulmate?" Dan asked, his jaw on the ground. Chris laughed and replied, "Possibly. I'll have no idea until we get older, though."  
"Dude, that's amazing!" Dan said, but he hid that he was kind of jealous. He had made a promise to himself all those years ago, but he was starting to doubt if he should keep it on. A lot of his friends had recently said they think they had found their soulmates, and then there was Dan. Single, and looking like a nerd because of how obsessed he was with them.   
Little did he know, however, that the outlet to his soulmate would come in a matter of minutes.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just wanted to tell y'all that this is all prewritten, i'm writing future chapters as you read this!!

Going over to Chris' house usually consisted of Chris being on the computer with his headphones and Dan reading comic books on Chris' bed. Until now, Dan never really paid attention to what Chris was doing. He looked up and saw Chris scrolling through what looked like pictures until he clicked on one and it turned out to be a video. Dan had forgotten about the comic book and was now staring at the screen. He heard Chris laugh at the what the person was saying, and then he switched videos. Dan got up and tapped Chris' shoulder. Chris paused the video and took off his headphones. "What is it?" Chris asked kindly. "What website are you on? It seems really cool." Dan replied, and Chris laughed. "This is YouTube. It came out last year, and you post videos on it." Dan still looked amazed. He had obviously seen a video before, but he had never seen people make videos about themselves, then post it on a site for anyone to see. "Could I look at it for a second?" Dan asked, and Chris got out of his chair for Dan to sit in. "Of course." Chris replied, and sat down on his bed to read a comic.  
Dan clicked on a video by a person called AmazingPhil. It was the first one he saw, and it looked pretty cool. It was titled "Phil's Video Blog - 27th March 2006" and the boy in the thumbnail looked cute. Dan watched. The first thing that the boy said was "Hi, I'm Phil."  
That was the exact moment Dan fell in love.  
He had never felt this before, his heart was racing and his face flushed. His eyes were glued to this random boy. Dan was only halfway listening to what he was saying. He heard something about Mother's Day, but he didn't really care. Dan's mouth was open a little bit as he watched. "Oh my GOD, he is cute.." Dan thought.  
Dan was snapped out of his trance by Chris's mum.  
"Dan, honey, your mum is here!" She said, and Dan got up. "See you tomorrow, Chris!" Dan said, and Chris waved and continued reading.  
As Dan got in the front passenger seat of the car, all of his thoughts were occupied by this boy. He concluded that his name was Phil. He also concluded that he was very in love with Phil.  
"Dan, hun, are you okay?"  
It was his mum. She had been looking at him for a while and saw that he was in a sort of trance. "Yeah, mum, of course." Dan replied, and continued to think about Phil. Dan's mum shook her head but continued to drive to the Howell household.  
Once they arrived, Dan and his mum walked in to the house and we're greeted by Dan's father. After talking to him for a moment, Dan went up to his room. He was about to play Crash Bandicoot when he looked at his computer, and his mind clicked. He jumped up from his bed and practically ran across the room to the computer. He searched up YouTube and found AmazingPhil, and started watching his videos.  
Before Dan knew it, it was time for him to go to sleep. He turned off the computer, changed in to his pyjamas, and went to bed, thinking about Phil.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my goodness, 67 hits?? i was barely expecting 10!!! i know that isn't very many to most people, but that's 67 live, actual people. 67 humans actually sat down and read this. that means a lot to me. thank you all for reading this!!!!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise bitches, i actually woke up early and decided "hEy, they might want another chapter" so here you go

**October 20, 2006**

Beep! Beep! Beep!  
Dan woke up to the shrill sound of an alarm clock. He slammed his hand on top of it and groaned. He got up and walked toward his closet. Dan chose a _My Chemical Romance_ shirt and black skinny jeans. He then walked toward the bathroom to take a shower. Once he got out, he started to deal with his hair. It was a wet mess, so brushed through it. He got a blow dryer and dried it. He then picked up the straightener and clamped little parts at a time and pulled until his hair was perfectly straight. (author note: unlike him.) Dan left the bathroom and went in to the living room to get his bag, then he left for school.

School was only a short distance away, so he walked every morning. His parents were always gone for work before he was even awake, and they were never home until after he got home from school, so he barely saw them. He didn't mind too much, though. In his opinion, they invaded his privacy. Dan would get bullied occasionally, so his parents watched him very closely. They watched his conversations online, they talked with his friends to see if Dan had said anything suicidal, and they almost never left him alone when they were home. Dan didn't like this, but he didn't complain. It would probably just start something, and he didn't want that. 

As he walked in to the school, he noticed a familiar face. It was Pj, and he was walking hand-in-hand with Dan's best friend, Chris, and acting like this was all normal. Dan approached them, and turned to Chris.  
"Is this the potential soulmate you were talking about?"  
Chris blushed profusely as Pj looked confused in Chris' direction. Dan just sat innocently as Chris collected himself.  
"Yeah, this is him."  
Pj shot another, even more confused look to Chris as Dan just looked at the two. They were actually a pretty cute couple, Dan noticed. Pj broke Dan out of his thoughts by looking at Chris and asking in a small voice, "You told Dan?" Chris simply smiled at Pj and said "Oh, come on! He can be trusted! Wait, can't you, Dan?" Dan looked at Chris, not expecting the conversation to be suddenly shot in his direction, and stuttered out, "O-Oh! Of course!" Chris just laughed and Pj tried to, but looked worried. 

Dan had almost every class with Chris, including first period, English, so they walked together. 

"Hey, Dan?"  
"Yeah, Chris?"  
"When are you planning on finding yours?"  
"....My what?"  
"Your soulmate!"  
Chris bursted out laughing at Dan's confusedness and Dan laughed awkwardly with him. After Chris had stopped laughing, his face got serious again.  
"No, but seriously. When are you going to find your soulmate?"  
Dan thought for a moment, and then spoke. "Well, uh, I cant really find them until we're eighteen, so what's the point? I already told you about my plan not to get with anybody until I'm of age to find my soulmate, and I think that's what I'm gonna do."  
"But what if they're in the school right now? What if you've spoken to them today? Dan, look at all the possibilities. I mean, yeah, you won't know for three more years, but you should at least try it out!"  
Dan sighed and walked in to English. He sat in his desk and Chris sat in his, which was right next to Dan's, for the convienience of the plot, of course. Dan looked at Chris.  
"Okay, look, Chris. You know how much research I've done on soulmates, and so you know I know everything about them. Some people have had gut feelings about their soulmates, years before they turn eighteen. I'm pretty sure I'm having those feelings right now, and they say that, well, firstly, it's a him, and secondly, he isn't in this school."  
Dan had had (author note: screw english) feelings for guys for as long as he could remember, but he never expected his soulmate to be male. But alas, something was telling him that his soulmate was a he, and he wasn't anywhere near Dan. You would have expected Dan to be flipping out, because he was having his first connection to his soulmate, and, well, you'd be right. After Dan said that to Chris, his eyes widened as he realized. Dan started tumbling out words at the speed of light. "OhmyGODChris, ohmygodohmygodIjusthadaconnectiontomysoulmate, Chris, CHRIS OHMYGOD!" Dan was rubbing his face as he freaked out, and Chris supressed a smirk. Chris had known that Dan would freak out when he first had a connection to his soulmate, so this wasn't what was surprising to Chris. What was surprising was that Dan was having a connection 3 years before he would be able to find him.  
Dan started to whisper-scream instead of yelling at Chris when other kids started staring, but was still flipping out nonetheless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my god 115 hits?!?! y'all are amazing. like i said last time, i was expecting maybe 10, and this is over 11 times that. you 115 people are the best in the entire world, and i thank you with my entire heart!!!! <3


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo   
> there's not much to be said, so enjoy!!

Dan's classes seemed to fly by, as Dan felt as though he was on a cloud. He had waited fifteen years for this, and he was expecting to have to wait longer. He just actually had a connection to his soulmate. He ignored the small chance that it was nothing and he fully believed the feeling. He decided that if the feeling came back and told him to do something, he would do it, even if it went against his own rule. The feeling knew more than he did, and he knew that. According to other people that had had this feeling, if you listen to it, it will lead you to your soulmate, even if you're not of age. Dan felt blessed that he had done so much research. It was all coming to use, and he could see that. If he didn't care about soulmates, he probably would have just ignored the feeling and would probably be dating some random guy right now. He was unbelievably grateful, he felt like a fangirl who just got tickets to see her favorite band. Before he knew it, it was lunch and he sat by Chris and now Pj was in front of Chris, but Dan didn't mind. He didn't really mind anything right now. Somebody could have asked to steal all of his belongings and he probably would have said yes.   
Chris broke Dan out of his trance by lightly punching his shoulder. "Is that a yes, Dan?" Chris asked. Dan didn't know what Chris had asked, but, again, he didn't really care about anything, so he just said ,"What? Oh, yeah." Chris and Pj exploded in to loud laughter, and Dan was fully out of his trance now. "What? I wasn't paying attention!" Dan said, and Chris stopped laughing to say, "Yeah, we know." and then soon Pj stopped, too. "Seriously, what did I agree to?" Dan questioned, and Pj replied, "Yeah, Chris, what did he agree to?" Chris sighed, but replied, "We-" -Pj glared at Chris- "-Well, I asked if you'd like to film a threesome porno with us, and I knew you'd say yes because of your trance.."  
Dan turned red and stuttered "I--What!-You-.. No!" Pj snickered and said, "Well, that's sure not what you said the first time he asked!" and Dan glared. He could tell that Pj was going to be a welcome member of this now group of friends.

Fifteen minutes later, lunch was over, and the three had to depart. The class right after lunch, maths, was the only class Dan didn't have with Chris. Their teacher for maths, Mrs. Hart, had a monotone voice, so about thirty minutes in to the class, everyone was either asleep or zoned out. Dan was in the latter, and he was of course thinking about Phil. Mrs. Hart wasn't one of those rude teachers that would call on you if you weren't paying attention, mostly because nobody was paying attention. She would just teach what she had to, and if you didn't hear her, then so be it. She would give out tests every few months, but every one was on year 6 material, so everyone made at least 90's on every one. Soon enough, the bell rang to signal the end of class. Dan gathered his things and made his way toward the door. He accidentally bumped in to someone, and he looked up. It was Austin, the school bully. Dan gulped and knew he was in for the worst, which was exactly what he got. "Hey, watch where you're going, faggot!" Dan felt a sharp pain in his ribs, and he realized that Austin's fist had hit him there. Dan fell to the floor as Austin and his group of bullies laughed. Dan got up, crying, and practically ran in to his next class. He sat next to Chris in this class, too, and when Dan sat down, Chris was immediately worried. "Dan? What happened? Are you okay?" Chris questioned, and Dan wiped his tears and looked at Chris "I-I got punched in t-the rib." Dan replied, and Chris looked angry. "What asshole did that?" Chris asked, and Dan simply replied,"Austin." Chris tensed up. "Oh, he's gonna get what's coming to him." Chris muttered, and Dan looked scared. "Chris, no! He's going to hurt you, too! Just leave him alone, you don't deserve to get hurt because you were trying to protect me." Dan said, and Chris still looked angry, but he agreed.   
This was their last class, so when the bell rang, Dan got his stuff and practically ran to his locker. Chris followed and went to his locker, which was about ten away from Dan's. They turned from their lockers and then went outside, toward Chris's house to walk.   
Suddenly, the gut feeling took over, and Dan looked at Chris. "Hey, can I use to computer today?" Dan asked, and Chris looked back. "Yeah, but you can't use it everyday!" Chris laughed, and Dan laughed, too. Dan didn't know what this feeling wanted him to do, but he was detirmined to do it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm actually screeching, 173 hits??? you are all my favorite people!!! thank you so much if you've actually been reading this, i thought this would be something i did in the side but it's started to take over me, and all of your support is helping lots!! i love all of you endlessly!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for such a short chapter! i am tired and have been working on this on and off all day and I won't have time to work on this and another chapter early tomorrow morning, so yeah. hope you enjoy!

Once the boys got in Chris' room, Dan automatically sat down at the computer. Chris went to get a comic book and sat down on his bed. Same as yesterday.   
The feeling took over again, and it typed "twitter" in to the search bar. Dan didn't even know what Twitter was, but the feeling did, and it had plans.   
Once it loaded up, Dan clicked on "sign up." He created an account, and he called it 'danisnotonfire'. It was the first name that came to his mind, and it seemed fitting, seeing as he truly wasn't on fire. He then made up a password, and bam. He had an account. He didn't know what to do with this account, but he had it. The suddenly, the feeling took over again, and he went to search up AmazingPhil. It came up, and Dan followed him. "Wait, hold on a second...." Dan thought.   
His soulmate was male.   
His soulmate didn't go to his school.   
He had liked the boy whose account he was looking at right now since when he first saw him.  
And, to top it all off, Dan's feeling had lead him here.   
"No way.." Dan whispered to himself, and Chris looked up to see Dan on twitter. He didn't see whose profile he was on, but he had a guess. "What, loverboy's crush has a twitter?" Chris teased, smirking. "Actually, yes. And I think that loverboy's crush is his soulmate." Dan replied. Chris' smirk left, and it was replaced with shock. "Wait, what?" Chris asked, and now Dan was the one smirking. "Well, you know how that gut feeling told me that my soulmate was a guy, and he didn't go to our school?" "Yeah, but that doesn't-"   
"Shush, and listen. So today, when I asked to use the computer, that was because the feeling told me to. I got a twitter because the feeling told me to. And, it lead me here, so..." Dan motioned toward the screen, and Chris looked. Sure enough, it was AmazingPhil's twitter. Chris was still skeptical. "How do you know it isn't just your brain playing tricks on you? This could all just be your brain making stuff up, Dan."  
Dan sighed at his friend. "Chris. I didn't even know that twitter existed before today. How could I have looked it up by myself?"  
Chris was in disbelief. There was no way that Dan had striked it this lucky. I mean, come on! It's unrealistic to see someone on YouTube, like them, and then they turn out to be your soulmate.   
Even if Chris did have a point, he was still wrong. Yes, it may be unreasonable, but it's what was destined for Dan. They had a future together. Dan and Phil, the unstoppable force.   
Neither Chris, Dan, or even Phil knew about Dan and Phil's future, but the feeling did. This feeling had full control of Dan at this point. It had controlled him when he was obsessed with soulmates in the first place.   
Unlike most people if they had full control over someone, this feeling's intention wasn't for evil. It was on Dan's side, and it wanted him to find his soulmate and live happy ever after, and it would work it's hardest to get him there. The feeling knew that as soon as Dan and Phil met and fell in love, it would disappear, but it was fine with that. It could make someone else happy after Dan, and then after that person, and so on and so on, but this feeling was excited to see Dan's future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm actually going to cry  
> you are all the sweetest people i've ever talked to, thank you so, so, so much for reading   
> i love you all!!! <3 <3 <3


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for skipping through years, but i didn't really feel like writing a chapter for every day for 3 years before dnp actually met, so you and i will just have to settle for one long chapter for each year!  
> p.s. yes, ik that dnp are different ages irl, but you're just gonna have to deal with it okay

Dan had started watching AmazingPhil a lot more recently. With every video he watched, he began to fall more in love. He was unbelievably happy to know that this man, the one he was watching right now, was most likely his soulmate. It was amazing to him, how this had all managed to happen.  
It was amazing how he managed to find YouTube through Chris, completely on accident.  
It was amazing how Phil's video was the first he saw, and the one he was interested in.  
It was amazing how he had fallen the second he first saw him.  
And lastly, it was amazing that he was most likely Dan's _soulmate_. Dan hadn't even met Phil yet, but he was honored. As far as Dan had seen, Phil really did live up to his name. He was amazing, and he was funny, and smart, and caring, and.... The list could go on forever. 

Dan still had his twitter, and he would use it every once in a while to check on Phil's account. He had learned from this twitter than he and Phil were the same age, but Phil was born in January, and Dan in June, technically still making Phil older, even though there were both born in 1991. Dan hadn't gone too far in to Phil's life, for he didn't wan't to seem creepy. Phil didn't even know Dan existed, so he just decided to keep it that way until he was destined to meet him.  
Dan hadn't gone stalker fangirl. Yet.

* * *

**October 19, 2007**

Dan woke up groggily, and picked up his phone to check the time. _6:45 AM_. Dan decided it was pointless to go back to sleep, seeing as he would wake up in fifteen minutes normally, so he got out of bed. He did his morning routine, which consisted of him taking a shower, getting dressed, fixing his hair, and leaving. He texted Chris on his way to school with his extra fifteen minutes.

**Chris: glad it's friday?**  
**Dan: ofc why wouldn't i be**  
**Chris: i was trying to see if you'd notice what was special about today**  
**Dan: well ik it's my one year anniversary of me watching my possible soulmate but i don't think that's what you meant**  
**Chris: *sigh* it's my one year anniversary with pj you doofus!**  
**Dan: well i don't pay attention to you two's relationship**  
**Dan: lol congrats**

Dan stopped texting when he realized that he had spent all of his extra time up, so he headed toward the school. He met Chris and Pj a block away from it, and the three walked. Pj and Dan had become really close, because Pj was kind of dating Dan's best friend, and it would be sorta bad if they hated each other. The three were sixteen, two years away from finding out if their significant other was their soulmate. Dan still hadn't met who he had in mind as his soulmate, but he strived to soon. 

Pj and Chris were acting very lovey-dovey today, and Dan was sick of it. Every time they even got remotely close, the couple heard from Dan;  
"Get a room, you two!"  
"Save it for later, when you have privacy!"  
"Nobody wants to see it!"  
And so on, but it was all jokes, of course. Dan thought that they were actually pretty cute together, and he wanted to have a relationship like that. They didn't act like they hated each other in front of people, but they weren't passionately making out in the hallways, either. They showed just the right amount of affection to each other, and Dan found it adorable.  
Every time he saw them being cute, he couldn't help but think if that were him and Phil. At this point, almost a full year after he found out that Phil might be his soulmate, he fully believed that Phil was. He didn't have much proof, but that feeling had told him, and he had trusted that feeling wholeheartedly. He had always really wanted to meet his soulmate, even before he knew who it was, but it being Phil made Dan want to meet him one thousand times more. He decided that he would tell his parents about it when he was seventeen, a year before he was of age. It wouldn't be too early, like now, or too late, like a week before he turned eighteen.

* * *

Dan's morning went by fast, and before he knew it, it was lunch, and he was sitting by his two best friends. He saw Chris and Pj being cute again, which ended up with him in one of his famous trances, thinking about Phil. Chris noticed this, and decided to take advantage of it.  
"Hey, Dan, whatchya thinkin' about?" Chris asked. Dan, not caring about his future embarrassment, replied, "Oh, just Phil." and went back to his trance. Chris and Pj bursted out laughing, as always, and Dan asked what he agreed to this time, as always, except this time Pj had a different answer than just, "Yeah, Chris, what did he agree to?", like he always said.  
Pj turned to Dan and said, "Actually, this time, you didn't agree to anything. Chris asked you a question and you answered it very truthfully."  
"What did I answer to?" Dan asked, and Pj did the drill.  
"Yeah, Chris, what did Dan answer to?" Pj said to Chris, and Chris grinned.  
"Well, Dan, I asked what you were thinking about."  
Dan's face went red. "What did I say?" he asked quietly, but he already knew the answer.  
Chris's grin grew as he replied, "You said you were thinking of Phil."  
Dan hid his face in his hands as Chris and Pj laughed. "What, it's cute!" Pj said, and Dan replied, "You sound like my mom! It's not cute, it's embarrassing, and God knows what you two probably think I was thinking about on the topic of Phil."  
Chris wiggled his eyebrows, and Dan groaned.  
"I hate you both." Dan smiled, and the couple grinned back.

* * *

Soon, lunch was over and the three had to separate. Dan walked toward maths, and sat down in his desk once he got there. Mrs. Hart's voice had him set in a trance within minutes, and he was obviously thinking about his soulmate. 

_Dan and his boyfriend, Phil, were sat on their couch, watching their favorite show together. Dan noticed that their fingers were laced, and his heart raced. Phil looked at him and smiled, and Dan grinned back. Phil looked back at the show, and Dan just looked at him. He was so beautiful, his eyes a gorgeous mix of blue, green, and yellow, his usually pale face covered with red on his cheeks, his little button nose, Dan could kiss him right now. So that's exactly what he did.  
Dan tugged a little at Phil's hand, and when Phil looked in Dan's direction to see what made his hand move, Dan moved in and connected their lips. Phil didn't seem phased, moving his lips with Dan's, and Dan noticed that their lips moved together like two jigsaw pieces. Phil leaned in closer, deepening the kiss. Dan's hand moved up to cup Phil's fa-_

Ring! Ring! Ring!  
Dan must have been in a trance longer than he thought, because the bell to leave this class had rung. Dan gathered all of his things and left out the door, toward his next class, Science. He sat down next to Chris with a giddy look on his face, and Chris was automatically suspicious. "Why are you so happy, loverboy?" Chris asked, and Dan rolled his eyes at him. "I have my reasons." Dan replied smugly, and Chris raised his eyebrows. "Oh, really now?" Chris asked, and Dan rolled his eyes again. "Leave me alone, you fucker." Dan said, and Chris laughed, knowing that he was joking.  
This was the best type of friendship, in Dan's opinion. One where you could call the other one rude things and they already know you're joking. Dan wondered if he would have that with Phil, and this author is glad to inform you that he would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh. my. god.  
> this fic is still pretty small, it doesn't have thousands of hits lol, but almost 300?? i've said this like a million times, but i was expecting like 10. and not only does it have that many hits, but you are all so supportive and nice and aaa. i love each and every one of you  
> also this is such a long chapter?? like i've never written this much in my life lol


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy 26th birthday dan!! he's so old lol  
> anyways  
> y'all best be glad i'm not evil because this chapter could've gone in a completely different direction

At this point, two years after he had started watching his soulmate, Dan had caught up with every single video Phil had made. He had accomplished that earlier in the year, but it still felt memorable to him. He watched every single video Phil put out the second it was uploaded, and commented on every single one. He now actually had his twitter set up, and used it a lot to tweet Phil, and sometimes he would get noticed by him. Dan loved the fairly rare attention.  
He had noticed that very recently, Phil had started to reply to him a lot more, and they had an actual conversation every once in a while. It was nice, talking to him.  
Sometimes, Dan wondered if Phil knew he was talking to his soulmate, not knowing if Phil had the feeling, too. Every time they had a conversation, Dan had thought about bringing it up, but decided against it every time. He decided that it would be best to not bring it up at all after a while, and he would let their aging show Phil that they were soulmates.  
Dan had also planned to meet Phil next year, when he was to turn eighteen, but he and Phil weren't that good of friends yet, so he decided against telling Phil. Dan was excited about his future with Phil.

* * *

**October 19, 2008**

Dan woke up to the sound of birds, and looked at his phone for the time. _6:45 AM_. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. _"Wait, wasn't this the exact same time I woke up last year's anniversary of watching Phil?"_ Dan thought to himself, and was surprised at himself for remembering something so insignificant. He did his routine, and just before walking outside, Dan remembered something.  
He had planned to tell his parents about Phil today.  
Dan's breath hitched in his throat and his heart started beating fast. Thankfully, he couldn't right now because of his parents being gone, but he was still nervous.  
Dan's parents weren't exactly homophobic, but Dan noticed that they would make jokes about gays, mostly making fun of them. Dan hoped that their child's soulmate being a male would change that. 

He didn't do much with his extra time, just leaning against a pole at the block where he normally met Chris and Pj. Dan's parents had graciously given him an iPhone for his 17th birthday, so he checked Phil's twitter and YouTube to check for anything new. There was nothing new.  
He heard two male voices talking and looked up to see his two best friends. He walked up to them and started to walked next to them.  
"Happy two year anniversary!" Dan said, remembering this time. The two smiled and looked at each other with adoration in their eyes. Dan was sure they would turn out to be soulmates.  
"And happy two year anniversary to you, too!" Chris said, and Dan laughed. "I don't think my two year relationship of watching Phil means as much as you two dating for two years. I mean, we're in high school! You have probably set the record for longest relationship here."  
The couple laughed, and Chris smiled. "Two years is nothing compared to how long we're going to be together." Chris replied, and Dan awww'd. He actually couldn't wait to meet Phil, so they could be soppy like this.

Soon Chris and Dan sat down in their first period, and Chris seemed to be in a trance. Suddenly, Dan had an idea. All of those times Chris had taken advantage of Dan while he was in a trance, Dan felt like it was time for revenge. Plus, Dan had a question anyway that he wanted answered truthfully.  
"Hey, Chris, have you and Peej done the do?"  
Chris simply replied, "Yeah."  
Dan gawked for a second before bursting out laughing. Chris looked confused, and then realized.  
"Oh no, what did you ask?" Chris looked kind of scared. Dan took a moment to collect himself before answering, "Something that I could potentially use for blackmail, if absolutely needed." Chris looked mortified. "....Was it about Pj and I?" Chris asked, and Dan nodded, before bursting out laughing again.  
Chris was now beet red, and so was Dan from laughter. "Oh, god, Dan, why would you ask that?" Chris said, and Dan innocently replied, "Ask what?" Chris sighed and class started.

* * *

Before long, it was lunch, and Dan was giggly the entire time. Chris kept shooting him looks that said "Don't you dare" and Pj looked as confused as ever.  
"Dan, what's up with you and why does Chris look like he wants to actually kill you?" Pj asked, and Chris gave Dan a look that would stop an elephant. "Oh, just because..." Dan replied, still giggling. Pj sighed and turned to Chris. "Chris, why do you look like you want to actually kill Dan and what's up with Dan?" Pj asked with puppy dog eyes to his boyfriend, and Chris sighed.  
"Well, you know how I always ask Dan stuff when he's in a trance?"  
"Yeah.."  
"Well, I was in a trance in English today. And Dan asked.... Something."  
Dan giggled one last time before blurting out, "I asked if you two have had sex."  
Pj didn't seem near as embarrassed as Chris, bursting out laughing when Dan said that. Chris turned red as Pj and Dan laughed, and and Pj looked at Chris. "What did you say?" Pj asked, and Chris replied, "The truth."  
"What is the truth?"  
"You know the truth, you were there!"  
Dan was now doubled over laughing, and Chris looked at Dan. "I hate you." Chris said, and Dan stopped laughing to say, "I love you too, Chris."  
Pj looked a little jealous, and Dan turned to him. "Look, dude, I already have my soulmate, I don't want yours." Pj giggled a little, and so did Chris. Dan had picked the right group to be in. 

Soon, lunch was over and the three had to depart. Maths was spent with Dan thinking about Phil, as always, and Science was spent with Chris playfully telling Dan, "I hate you." the entirety of the class.  
School was over in no time, and before long Chris and Dan were walking toward Chris' house. "I'm going to hate you for the rest of time." Chris said, and Dan laughed. "Yeah, sure, whatever. You know I'm your only friend besides Pj, and he doesn't count because you fuck him." Dan replied, and Chris didn't get embarrassed like Dan had hoped. "This is true, but I'm your only friend period, so fuck off." Chris replied, and they both laughed.  
They arrived, and Dan sat in the computer chair in Chris' room. Dan took over Chris's computer every time he was here. He noticed that Phil had uploaded a new video, so he watched. Dan didn't notice, but he had a huge grin on his face the entire time he was watching. Chris noticed, however, and he found it cute.(A/N btw no chris didn't find his smile cute is was the fact that he was smiling at phil ok? ok) _"They're gonna make a great couple."_ Chris thought to himself, and then continued to read his comic book.  
Soon, Chris' mum came and Dan had to go home. He waved to Chris and left the room. He then realized what he had to do.  
He had to tell his parents about Phil.  
His breath got faster and his stomach had a tiny pain caused from nerves. Dan got in his mum's car (A/N broom broom) and sat down. His mum could tell he was nervous about something. "Dan, hun, are you okay?" she asked, and Dan forced a smile. "Yeah, mum, of course." he replied, but he was not okay. He didn't know how his parents would react to his soulmate being male, and he also had to tell them that he hadn't even met his soulmate. They probably wouldn't even believe him. Dan inwardly groaned.  
They arrived to the house, and Dan took a deep breath to calm himself down. He willed for the feeling to come and help him, but to no avail. He walked inside, talked to his father a bit, but this time he didn't go straight to his room.  
"Mum? Dad? I, uh, I have something to tell you." Dan said, and the Howell parents looked up. "What is it, sweetie?" Dan's mum asked, and Dan took another deep breath. "Well, um, I think I've found my soulmate."  
Both of the older Howells jumped up and went to Dan. "When can we meet her? What is she like?" Dan's mum asked, while his father patted him on the back. Dan braced himself before replying. "Well, uhm, there's a slight problem about meeting _him_."  
Dan's parents froze, and Dan was about to sprint up to his room when his dad said, "What's the problem with meeting him?"  
Dan was so relieved. He almost grinned before saying, "I haven't exactly met him yet, but did either of you have this, like, feeling that lead you to each other?" His mum nodded. "Well, I have it, and it lead me to him, so I think it's him." Dan's mum smiled. "What's his name?" She asked, and Dan replied, "Phil." He lead his parents up to his room to show Phil to them, and he felt like everything was going right in his life. It was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all for reading, i love you all sosososososososo much!!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you're welcome u nerds

Now, Dan and Phil were best friends. Dan had watched Phil for three years, and had basically stalked him, up until early 2009, when they started talking often. They Skyped constantly, most times staying up late in to the night. Dan was even more in love with Phil now that he could see what his true personality was. Phil had managed to convince Dan to start his own YouTube channel, and vowed to watch every video, which was only one at the moment.  
Phil had confessed to Dan around September that he was in love with him. Dan almost cried, he was so happy. Dan had gushed that he loved him too after freezing for about 10 seconds. He knew that they were soulmates, but it still hit him like a ton of bricks. They had made plans to meet almost immediately after that, and the day they had planned completely coincidentally happened to be October 19.

* * *

**October 18, 2009**

Dan woke up and stretched. He looked at the time. _8:34 AM_. It was Sunday, and when Dan looked at the date, his heart started beating fast.  
He was to meet Phil tomorrow.  
He got up, smiling like an idiot, and got dressed. His parents were going to let him skip school tomorrow to see Phil, and he had thanked them so many times it was unreal. Both he and Phil had been tweeting about this since the second they had found out it was actually going to happen. Dan didn't know how excited Phil was right now, but Dan was about to explode.

Dan lived in Wokingham, and Phil in Manchester, which meant that the shortest train ride was three hours and thirty five minutes. Dan had saved up for this since September, so he was prepared. He could barely contain his excitement, and Dan didn't know, but neither could Phil.

* * *

Dan called Chris and asked if he wanted to come over. Dan hadn't told Chris about him meeting Phil yet, for he wanted it to be a surprise. Chris asked if Peej could tag along, and Dan said of course. At this point, Chris and Pj were a joint package.  
Soon, the couple were there and Chris knocked. Dan welcomed them in and lead them to his room. The three all sat on Dan's bed.  
"So," Dan started, "I have exciting news." The two were on the edge of their seats. "Are you and Phil together?!" Chris asked. "I already told you this, yes." Dan laughed. "Are you and Phil getting married?!" Pj asked. "I wish, but no." Dan replied. "Are you and Phi-" Chris was about to ask when Dan interrupted. "If you'd let me finish, I could tell you." The couple stayed silent.  
"Drumroll please!" Dan said dramatically, and the two started beating on the bed. "I'm meeting Phil tomorrow!" Dan said with a grin, and the couple's faces dropped. "Wait, like, _meet_ meeting him?" Pj asked, and Dan nodded. Both Chris and Pj were silent before Chris asked, "Why didn't you tell me?! I'm you're best friend!" Dan laughed and replied, "I wanted it to be a surprise, and clearly it worked!" The three laughed, and spent the rest of the day together, doing random things.  
Soon, the couple had to leave and Dan had to go to sleep. He was going to wake up at 6:45 AM, so he went to sleep at the same time he would for school.  
Just as Dan was about to fall asleep, he put two and two together. For the past two years, he woke up on 6:45 on this day. Dan smiled as he drifted off, thinking about the feelings mysterious ways. 

Beep! Beep! Beep!  
Dan heard his alarm, and he was about to just put it on snooze and go back to sleep when he realized what day it was. He jumped up, turned his alarm off, and got ready, making sure to look as good as possible.  
Soon, his mum was driving him to the train station, and Dan was sure his mum could hear his heartbeat.  
They arrived, and Dan grabbed his backpack full of clothes and necessities. "Have fun, Dan!" his mom said as he opened his car door, and Dan smiled. "I will, trust me."  
Dan walked toward the ticket booth, payed for his ticket, and then walked toward his train.  
He got on, and put in his earbuds to listen to music. He fell asleep almost as soon as he got on, barely getting sleep last night from excitement.  
He woke up when the conductor said, "Next stop, Manchester." and the train started to slow down. Dan's heart was in his throat as he got off, and started to look for Phil.  
Just then, Dan and Phil made eye contact for the first time. They both froze for about ten seconds before they started running toward each other.  
Dan felt like he was in one of those romance movies, as the time seemed to slow down. He hugged Phil tight as soon as he got in reach, and Phil hugged back, laughing. "Hey." Phil said, and Dan replied, "Hey." as they stopped hugging to look at each other.  
There they were, in the middle of a busy train station, looking at each other like they were the only thing in the world. Phil gently grabbed Dan's hand and laced their fingers before leading him back to his mum's car.  
Dan was almost crying. He had finally met his soulmate, and he was fully in love. He began to feel something inside him slowly melt away, and the last thing he heard from the feeling was a faint "Good luck." before fading away completely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy fuck  
> okay ik basically all of the ending notes are just freaking out about the hits but 400?!?!? that's literally about the size of my town's middle school, maybe even bigger!! i want you to know that if you're reading this, i truly appreciate you spending your time to read my writing. i love you all individually and as a whole. thanks for reading!!!!!!!!! <3  
> ps this isn't the end, i think i can get a few more chapters out of this, and they'll be vvvvv fluffy i think so be prepared


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise, bitches.  
> this is the last chapter :)

Dan sat with Phil in his mum's car, on their way to Phil's house. Both Dan and Phil were giggly the entire ride, and Phil's mum was smiling at them. She had a sliver of her feeling left, but this time the feeling wanted to help her son, and it said that they were soulmates.  
Dan looked at Phil with adoration in his eyes the entire ride. He couldn't take his eyes off of him. It felt just like the first time he had watched him, except he was here. He was next to him, and Dan could touch him, talk to him, and by talk to him, he meant _actually_ talk to him. Skype wasn't near as amazing as actually talking to him and hearing his voice in person. It was much smoother in real life, and he loved it. He loved everything about Phil.  
And Phil loved everything about Dan. His dimples when he smiled, the way his his chocolate brown eyes crinkled when he laughed, the way he blushed when he noticed Phil was staring at him, Phil loved it all. He had wanted to meet this boy ever since he started to talk to him, even when Phil was just replying to his tweets sometimes. This all felt surreal, and he was unbelievably grateful to be right here, with this boy right in front of him. He took Dan's hand again and Dan blushed, which resulted in a little giggle from Phil, which then resulted in the both of them in a giggle fest. Phil's mum smiled fondly at the two. She could tell Dan was going to be a welcome member in the Lester family.  
They pulled into the Lester household, and Phil never let go of Dan's hand as he opened the car door with his free one and lead him to the front door. They were both grinning the entire time, and Phil's mum was still smiling fondly at the two. Her feeling was telling their entire future to her, and she absolutely couldn't wait to see them grow.  
Once they were inside, Phil went up to his father, still hand-in-hand with Dan.  
"Dad, this is Dan," He gestured toward Dan. "and Dan, this is my Dad." He gestured toward his Dad. They smiled at each other and shook hands. "So, this is the boy you've been talking nonstop about?" Phil's dad teased, and Phil blushed and nodded. Phil's dad ushered them up to Phil's room. "You two have fun." he said, and when he saw Dan and Phil look at each other with that overwhelming adoration, Phil's dad yelled, "Not that much fun!" playfully, and Phil rolled his eyes. "We just met, dad. Leave us alone." he replied, joking back.  
Despite that fact, the second they were in the privacy of Phil's room, they were glued to eachother. Phil pushed Dan against the wall, and Dan kept his arms around Phil's neck. It wasn't much of a romantic kiss, seeing as both of them were smiling uncontrollably, so their teeth were clacking together, but they didn't care.

Dan didn't realize how much he loved Phil until they stopped kissing and just looked in each other's eyes. He didn't realize how much he loved Phil until Phil started to smile fondly at him, and when Phil grabbed his hands and laced their fingers together. He didn't realize how much he loved Phil until they put their foreheads together and started rocking from side to side, still looking in to eachother's eyes. He loved this man with his entire heart, he realized, and right there he vowed to himself to never hurt this man or do him any wrong. Dan loved Phil, and he was unbelievably excited to have the opportunity to spend the rest of his life with him.  
After a good 20 minutes was just spent looking in to each other's eyes, they went out to the city. They walked around, hand in hand, looking at all the cool shops until they found a Starbucks. They went in, and they both ended up getting caramel macchiatos. Dan stirred Phil's for him, and then they had a little chat over coffee. Dan would have to go back home by that night, so they wanted to get the most out of the day.  
Dan quickly realized that Phil was going to spoil him. At every shop they visited, Phil would ask if Dan wanted anything, and every time, Dan didn't want Phil to spend his money on him. Every time Phil tried to buy something, Dan would think, _"What did I do to deserve this angel.."_ And then they would go to another shop.

Soon, it was almost dark, and Phil had an idea. He gently took Dan's hand and lead him to a restaurant called Skybar, a restaurant very high up with a wall of windows. Usually, Skybar would be packed, but it was Monday night, so everyone was either just getting off work or resting. He got them a good table, right next to the window. Dan had only been to Manchester a few times, so he had never been to Skybar. So, when Phil brought Dan up to their table, Dan was starstruck. The view was amazing, and the lighting of the room was so romantic, and Dan just loved everything about it. When the two sat down, Dan laced their fingers together and smiled fondly, his dimple showing. Phil smiled back, and the boys both broke the eye contact when the waiter came by.  
"Hi, I'm Sean, would you two like anything to drink?" Sean asked, and the boys looked at the drink menu. Phil then pointed to a champagne and looked to Dan. "Hey, do you want that?" he asked, and Dan gaped. "Phil, that's over £2000!" he replied, and Phil sighed. "Hello, Sean, could we get one of these, please?" Phil said, now turned to Sean, and he nodded. Dan, still gaping, turned to Sean. "Haha, um, I don't really think we'll be needing that champagne, uh, I'll just get a water.." he started gushing, and Phil gently shushed him. "Look, just let me spoil you once, okay?" Phil said, and Dan shook his head. "Phil, you really don't have to do this..." Dan replied, and Phil sighed again. "Dan, I want to do this. Just _please_ let me do this, alright?" and Dan had to give in. Phil was too sweet to say no to, so Dan reluctantly nodded his head. "Thank you." Phil said, and turned back to Sean, who looked a little impatient. "So, he'll get the champagne and I'll get just a water, please." Phil said, and Sean fake smiled. "I'll be back in just a moment with your drinks!" he said with fake enthusiasm, and then turned around to go to get their drinks.  
"He didn't seem very happy.." Dan said as soon as Sean was out of earshot. "Probably because you wouldn't let me get you a simple drink, you dork." Phil replied fondly, and Dan laughed. "Yeah, but the 'simple drink' is over £2000!" Dan said, and Phil rolled his eyes playfully. "You'll enjoy it. Hush." Phil replied, and Dan stuck his tongue out at him.

* * *

The rest of their evening was spent flirting and joking with each other. Every time Sean came by, the boys would stop for just a second to talk to him, and then continue flirting. Sean was very annoyed with the boys at first, but as the night went on, he got out of his bad mood and saw how cute they really were.  
A couple of hours had passed, and both boys were stuffed with food and in good moods. Phil ended up paying for both of their meals, and Dan couldn't thank him enough.  
They were soon walking out of the restaurant, hand in hand, back to Phil's home, when Dan remembered that he had to go home now. He started frowning, and Phil was concerned. "Bear, are you alright?"  
(Phil had made the nickname "bear" for Dan, as when Phil brought up Winnie The Pooh, Dan got overly excited, and Phil decided it was a good nickname for him.)  
Dan nodded, and then spoke up. "I just remembered that I have to go home now." he said softly, and Phil started frowning too. Phil redirected their steps from his house to the train station, and when they got there, Dan hugged Phil tight, tighter than he had hugged anyone before. "Thank you so, so, so much for today." Dan said, and they stayed hugging for a while, until they stopped for a moment to look at each other. "This was the most fun I've ever had." Dan said, and Phil smiled, hugging him again. "I love you." Dan said after they stopped hugging again to look at each other, and Phil smiled softly. "I love you too, Bear."  
Dan soon had to leave, though, and Phil almost had to force him to get on the train.  
"I'll Skype you the second I get home!" Dan said once he had finally gotten on, and Phil smiled. "See you then!" Phil yelled as the train started to move, and Dan grinned. "See you then!" he replied.

As Dan sat in his seat, music on and eyes closed, he started to drift off, with only one thing in mind.

Phil.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy. shit. this has been one hell of a ride.  
> thank you to everyone who has read this, especially Emma_fandoms_forever(hi i know you're probably reading this lmao). she has been an inspiration, every time i said something she'd agree, every time i was having problems writing she vowed to never leave, and so much more. she helped give me motivation, and i want to give her the world for that.  
> also thank you for all the kudos and hits, they mean everything and also helped motivate me.  
> thank you everyone for this story.
> 
> ps. i'll probably make an epilogue to this soon
> 
> pps. this is most likely be my only big story, if i do write from this point forward it will probably be oneshots.
> 
> <3  
> -cailey


	11. Epilouge

**October 19, 2010**

Dan woke up to sun shining through the window and sighed. He picked up his phone and looked at the time. _11:45 AM._ He almost went back to sleep until he saw the date and immediately perked up. One year ago today, he and Phil had officially decided that they were boyfriends. Dan smiled and tried to Skype Phil to see if he'd respond. He did, and they talked for hours, the conversation mostly just praising the other and telling him how much he loved him.  
They couldn't see each other for their first anniversary, but the almost 13 hour Skype call almost made up for it.

 **October 19, 2012**  
The boys now lived together, but the entirety of 2012 was bad for the both of them.  
Dan had suddenly gone through a phase where he didn't want anyone to know they were together, soulmates, even. That ended in arguements, slammed doors, and tears. Lots of tears.  
Dan had been trying to forget what today was, but when he heard a knock on his door, he said "Come in.", despite knowing exactly what was coming.  
"Dan.." Phil sighed, and came to sit down next to Dan on his bed. "Dan, I was hoping today could be special, I mean, it is our-"  
Phil was cut off by a large sigh. "Don't say it. And don't try to win me over with the whole 'We need to talk about it' thing. Nobody needs to know, do we have to act like we're just friends."  
It was now Phil's turn to sigh. "That's the thing, Dan. By putting up this whole 'I'm straight' act, it does feel like we're just friends. It feels like you hate me. And it feels like the last three years were nothing to you."  
Dan tensed, and Phil was on the verge of tears.  
Then, very, very quietly, Phil said something that he'd been meaning to say for a while.  
"It feels like you don't love me anymore."  
Phil then let the tears start to fall as Dan's entire face crumpled, and so did Dan's heart. In that moment, Dan realized how much of a mistake he was making, trying to hide their relationship, and he realized how much of a douche he was being to Phil. He loved Phil, and Phil needed to know that. Dan started crying with him as he pulled Phil in to a hug, whispering "I'm so sorry." over and over in to his ear.  
After about ten minutes, the boys finally collected themselves and Dan decided to stop being an asshole, right then and there. "I do love you, Phil. I love you so, so much and I'm sorry for this entire year. But I love you, and I'm sorry for being an asshole, and-"  
He was cut off by a gentle kiss. "I love you too, Dan."

**October 19, 2019**

Dan stood in his tux, looking down the aisle to see the boys groomsmen walk down. He grinned when Chris walked up next to him, whispering "Congratulations." as Dan felt a tear trickle down his face.  
All the groomsmen had come down the aisle, and lastly came Phil and his father. Dan grinned bigger than he ever had before when he now had Phil by his side, both men's eyes filled with tears.  
In 15 minutes time, the priest was looking between the two, smiling. "Daniel James Howell, do you take this man, Philip Michael Lester, to be your lawfully wedded husband?"  
"I do."  
"Philip Michael Lester, do you take this man, Daniel James Howell, to be your lawfully wedded husband?"  
"I do."  
"You may now kiss your groom."  
Everyone clapped as Dan took Phil's face in his hands and kissed him with all the love and passion he had. Phil kissed back, and the two broke after minute, and Dan caught Phil off guard by picking him up bridal-style and carrying him down the aisle, everyone throwing rice on them. 

**October 19, 2063**

Dan lay in a hospital bed, 72 years old, with his best friend and the love of his life right by his side. Both of the men had been crying a lot, because of the situation and because they had been sharing their favorite memories with each other. Phil had Dan's hand in his, and Dan smiled weakly. "Yaknow, Phil..." Dan started, and Phil looked up. "What is it, love?" Phil asked, looking up at Dan with adoration and worry.  
Dan opened his mouth to speak, and had to force the words out, partly because he was crying and also because of his old age.  
"This was the most fun I've ever had."  
And then Dan drifted off, his grip on Phil's hand loosening as Phil's tears got heavier, and Phil thought of a quote he had heard ages ago.  
"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."  
And Phil smiled very weakly, pressing a kiss to Dan's hand one more time.  
"This was the most fun I've ever had."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all for the hits and kudos, you made this story possible.  
> this was the most fun i've ever had.


End file.
